Hilke's Patronus Charm, which had been faintly taking shape, was interrupted!
The flickering firelight from the kerosene lamp reflected on her face, making her feel as if she had once again fallen into the deepest depths of fear!
Hilke stood stunned in place; the straw man raised its scythe high, swinging it down just like a farmer in a wheat field preparing to harvest wheat!
"Salvio Hexia!"
In the darkness, hundreds of wands waved in unison, and an invisible barrier formed a thick obstruction between Hilke and it before the scythe could swing down!
"Crack!"
The scythe collided with the variant Shield Charm cast by Sherlock, and the immense force caused the protection, composed of hundreds of weakened barriers, to develop dense cracks like a spiderweb!
It raised the scythe again, and at this moment, Sherlock pulled Hilke, who was completely dazed, behind him.
Taking advantage of the gap after it smashed through the Shield Charm, Sherlock waved his wand again, and under his control, the hundreds of surrounding wands waved simultaneously.
At this moment, he was like an orchestra conductor; every time he waved the wooden stick in his hand, the hundreds of people below would respond in coordination with him!
"Expecto Patronum!"
Countless silver threads of light illuminated this space!
The flickering light tried its best to contend with the deepest darkness, the threads of light intertwining as they attempted to coalesce into a more powerful entity.
But it seemed as if the whole world was obstructing it, preventing the completion of its final form!
The straw man stopped the action of swinging the scythe to smash the Shield Charm and instead shook the dilapidated kerosene lamp; in the eyes wrapped with rotten cloth strips, the scarlet light seemed about to overflow!
A hissing, hoarse, and eerie voice issued an angry accusation that sounded like countless voices overlapping!
"You are not him! Sherlock! You are not him!!!"
However, its words did not make Sherlock waver in the slightest; he controlled the two hundred and one wands around him, finally converging the silver threads of light together!
"I am your father!"(TN: Wtf?)
A dazzling white light pierced through all the darkness, and two hundred and one silver-white crows suddenly appeared in this spacious Chamber!
The flock of crows circled in mid-air, illuminating the entire space!
Hope, happiness, beauty—all positive emotions spread beneath the wings of the flock of crows!
The dilapidated kerosene lamp in the straw man's hand extinguished for no reason. Countless pieces of straw kept falling from its body, and beneath the filthy, tattered cloth, it shrivelled at a speed visible to the naked eye!
A shrill, miserable howl sounded in this enclosed space, and the flock of crows, shining with silver-white light, circled around it; those positive emotions made it unable to help but vomit violently.
Straws fell from its body every moment; it finally felt afraid, dared not stay in this place any longer, and ran desperately toward the door with its two legs made of rough wooden sticks!
But the Patronus summoned by Sherlock clearly would not let it off so easily.
The crows seemed to form a dense net, blocking the wooden door, and the scattered silver radiance had completely gained the upper hand, suppressing the darkness in the whole room!
The straw on its body had all fallen off, leaving only a thin piece of rag hanging on the wooden frame.
"Don't come over! Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
It was still roaring the words of the dead in its mouth, but this was more like a desperate howl!
Its path was blocked, so it quickly reversed direction, its scarlet eyes flashing with final madness! It rushed wildly towards Sherlock!
Sherlock's expression was indifferent, constantly commanding the flock of crows to block the path in front of it.
But it seemed completely unconcerned about how much of its entity was being worn away, passing through hundreds of crows and rushing in front of Sherlock!
Just as it used its last bit of strength to swing the scythe in its hand.
Hilke, awakened by the happiness and hope that were so thick they were almost overflowing, quickly pulled a wooden box from her robe and accurately clamped it onto the straw man!
In an instant, it was fixed in place as if petrified, with countless roars and wails echoing out.
"What's going on! What happened!"
"No! No! I'm so scared! I'm so scared!"
"Don't come over! Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
"..."
Something was sucked away from the straw man by the wooden box; it was left with only an empty wooden frame, and finally fell silently to one side.
After its broken body fell to the ground, the silver flock of crows flying in the Chamber also dissipated.
The entire Chamber became completely quiet.
Sherlock felt as if something extra was on his neck, but he did not pay attention to it.
Because he was very happy right now.
Perhaps because the monster in front of him had been dealt with, the murderer had been caught, or perhaps because of something else.
In short, Sherlock felt he had never been so happy and joyful before!
The surrounding firelight lit up; there had originally been a light source here, but under the straw man's control, all light had been covered and absorbed by darkness, and only now could this space be illuminated.
Hilke panted, closed the wooden box that had fallen on the ground, and then turned her face towards Sherlock, the gaze hidden beneath her hood and ribbon staring fixedly at him.
"Who taught you to cast spells in this way!"
Sherlock was very happy to hear her question; this did not seem like anything to be happy about, but he was happy.
"Great question, Hilke, a very good question."
He skipped along lightly, collecting all the wands scattered in mid-air back into his cloth bag.
"Although your question is very good, and I am very happy that you asked it, this is my family's magic, so even if our relationship is very good, I cannot teach you."
When speaking, Sherlock was almost singing happily; his mood seemed to be a bit too good.
Hilke also clearly noticed this problem at this moment.
"Releasing so many Patronus Charms at once, you cannot withstand the emotions that it feeds back."
Sherlock, of course, had also discovered the source of his problem, but he still had nothing to worry about; he was happy in his heart anyway, and that was enough.
"Let's celebrate, let's have a dance, Hilke; although I might not know how to dance, you can teach me."
"I think you had better shut your mouth now and wait for the emotions to vent themselves."
Hilke did not accept his suggestion and said with a cold expression.
But regardless of whether she accepted it or not, Sherlock took the initiative to come over and pull her arm, humming a beat, and started dancing as if he had learned it without a teacher.
Hilke originally wanted to break free, but in the end, she did not move recklessly.
"I suggest you had better take a nap."
She was led by Sherlock to spin around in place like a puppet and said expressionlessly.
Sherlock's rational consciousness seemed to have gained a slight upper hand, and he said happily with a pleasant smile on his face.
"Cast a Stupefy on me, and take me back to Hogwarts."
One of Hilke's hands was being pulled by him as they slid their steps, and her other hand pulled out her wand and aimed it at him.
"Stupefy."
With Sherlock deliberately not dodging, the red spell hit him.
The next moment, the happy smile froze on his face. Sherlock fell limply forward, and finally his whole body leaned against Hilke.
Hilke supported Sherlock with her body and stood quietly in place for a while; she seemed to be thinking about something.
Then she slowly reached out and laid him on the ground.
She did not immediately take Sherlock away from here, but turned his body to face upward, staring at him with that unseen gaze.(TN: Interesting.)
After a long while, Hilke seemed to have made a decision; she took off her hood, revealing a face so exquisite it did not seem possible for a normal human to possess, and then placed her hand on the knot of the ribbon that covered her eyes.
Without hesitation, she untied the black ribbon.
A pair of pale golden eyes, in which it seemed as if clock hands were turning, were exposed to the air.
That pair of miraculous eyes was revealed, matching perfectly with Hilke's pale face; at this moment, she was like the most exquisite artwork in the world!
But in the Chamber at this moment, there was only the unconscious Sherlock, and no one else could appreciate this breathtakingly beautiful scene.
Hilke stared at Sherlock's face with her eyes, with utmost solemnity.
The firelight shining on the walls flickered; nothing was reflected in her eyes, yet it seemed as if countless scenes were flashing through them.
Hilke saw many things.
She saw Sherlock at the age of three squatting alone at his mother's funeral, and saw him at eleven receiving the admission letter sent by Hogwarts in the empty big house.
She saw him at fifteen getting a girlfriend for the first time, then being dumped in less than a month, and saw him at eighteen after graduating from Hogwarts, applying for a job in Dumbledore's office.
She saw him at twenty-one failing to apply for a job again, failing a magic experiment, and returning from the hospital only to unexpectedly receive an appointment letter.
She saw this June, when he first learned that magic seemed to be able to control everything, pinning the Basilisk to death in the Gryffindor Common Room.
She saw this summer, when he took his students to travel in France.
Finally, she saw the present, Sherlock lying on the ground.
Scarlet blood flowed silently from Hilke's eyes down her cheeks.
She had watched all the important scenes of Sherlock's life up to now, but had not found what she wanted to see.
Her tone was very flat, and also seemed very disappointed.
"You are not John."(TN: Who is John?)
She wiped the blood off her face, then used the ribbon to cover those beautiful eyes again.
"No, perhaps it's for the best; John is truly dead."
She seemed to be talking to herself, and also seemed to be saying this to someone.
Finally, Hilke stood up from the ground and put the wooden box containing the straw man back into her pocket.
Using the Levitation Charm to suspend Sherlock's body in mid-air, she grabbed his arm, walked out of the Chamber, and returned along the secret passage the way she came.
Hilke did not notice that a dark golden circular locket was dangling from Sherlock's neck; that thing had never appeared on him before.(TN: Huh?)